His hand closed around mine. His grip was tighter than usual. I looked up to see his face; he was calm even in chaos. He looked down at me, his eyes shining with excitement and worry. Confusion fell over me. Then he whispered, “run Karina run!”   

“What!” I yelled confusedly. Before I had time to process what was happening I was running like there was no tomorrow, the cherry blossom trees became a pink blur. We were running hand in hand on the busy streets of Seoul, thousands of eyes pried at us, but we didn’t care. “Why are we running Hanni!” I yelled, there was no response all I saw was the back of his head; his medium long blond hair was flying through the air due to the speed of our running.  He gripped my hand tighter, and then we made a sharp turn into a small alleyway, the sun had set and the small neon sign lit up the path. The moon had come up now and was shining brighter than ever. I couldn’t make out any objects in the alleyway except for this strange, life-sized metal box. It wasn’t a garbage can then what purpose could it have. As I tried to make out this strange box, there was a big jerk. I felt my aching body being pushed against the tattooed wall. “Shush!” Hanni whispered quietly “don’t move” before I could say anything, I felt Hanni’s body weight against mine. His arm was perched up against the wall to keep his balance but there was not much room between us. He had pulled us behind the strange box I was trying to make out. I could hear Hanni’s heavy breathing slow down, his hair had fallen into his eyes, and I  had the urge to brush it out of his face, but I was too entranced by the situation.

 I wondered what was the cause of us running? Was it because we were recognized by reporters? Paparazzi? Or maybe a fan? Even though we had masks and the most unfashionable clothing on? How? I wanted to ask Hanni, but instead, I trusted his decision. I am sure there was a reason behind his doing. I turned my head to look around the alleyway, I could feel Hanni’s gaze at me, but I was too shy to look back. I began distracting myself by running my fingers along with the dents and scratches of the strange box. I felt Hanni move in closer to me, and pull down my mask. “What was that for?”  I whispered shyly. He chuckled. “You’re really stupid sometimes,” he mockingly said. I didn’t bother answering him, instead, I just continued to run my fingers along with the cool metal box. I felt him brush my side bangs out of my face, I jumped a little. “Did I scare you?” He asked worriedly. I let out a silly giggle, before I could say anything more he quickly pulled me down. “ Duck!” He whispered. I was pressed up against him even more. I felt his breathing get heavier, and worry had fallen over his face again; I wondered what the problem was. “That was not Hwang Hanni with his girlfriend!” I heard a manly voice yell. “ Yes it was, I swear boss I am not lying!” responded a high-pitched girly voice. “You know what? You are fired! We ran after a random couple and scared them, you’re done! Don’t come back to work again!” The manly voice yelled back.  It was reporters, I should’ve guessed that. Sometimes I forgot that Hanni was a famous idol and that I was just an ordinary doctor who had somehow managed to become the famous Hwang Hanni’s girlfriend. It had almost been a year since we started dating. Sometimes I couldn’t believe it myself. I was so lost in my own thoughts that I never realized the two reporters had left.

We sat there for a few more minutes just in case there were more of them. As we waited I decided to rest my aching head on Hanni’s shoulder and I closed my tired eyes, the smell of his cologne was comforting. It smelled like a field of flowers, fresh yet calming. It had been a while since I had gotten a break from the hospital, and although I was severely sleep-deprived I wanted to spend my birthday with Hanni. After all, he was the closest thing to family I had since I moved to Seoul. I didn’t realize that while I had my head resting against his shoulder,  I had drifted off to deep sleep, I wasn’t sure how we ended up home, but I could feel the comfort of Hanni’s bed. The warm blanket wrapped around me felt healing for my tired body, the smell of his cologne lingered through the room. I felt Hanni’s arms wrap around my aching body, I could feel every muscle in his arms flex, I turned to face him. His hair was wet from the shower, and the smell of warm vanilla and honey lingered off of him. I nestled closer into his chest, I could hear his heart beating. It was strangely calming to listen to. I felt his fingers run through my shortish black hair. 

 “Karina,” he quietly announced my name. “Hmm.” I answered sleepily. “I am so sorry that your birthday didn’t go as planned. You know how it is when there are paparazzi and reporters, I can’t risk it, you know that right.?” I let out a sigh, “Hanni no please don’t feel sorry I had an amazing day, it was perfect, I got to spend it with you and honestly, my favorite part of this day is just-” before I could finish my sentence he pressed his lips against mine it was a soft yet sweet kiss,  I couldn’t see much of his face in the dark, but I felt him wrap his arm around me tightly and with swift graduation of intensity he made me want to cling to him. My heart was beating faster than usual. I felt the butterflies in my stomach and my whole body tingled with excitement. He began running his fingers through my silky black hair. He came back to a soft kiss again then stopped. His face was close to mine. I wanted to grab him and kiss him again, but  I resisted instead. I could hear him breathe heavily. And then he whispered into my ears, “Happy birthday love, this was my present to you.” I let out a shy giggle.“It was perfect. I couldn’t ask for anything better on my birthday!” I whispered back.  It truly was the perfect night.

Citations:

Sekaiichi Hatuskoi 16-17

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